neuter

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[edit] English

[edit] Etymology

Latin, from ne (“not”) + uter (“whether”); compare English whether and neither.

[edit] Pronunciation

[edit] Adjective

neuter (not comparable)

  1. (archaic) Neither the one thing nor the other; on neither side; impartial; neutral.
    • (Can we date this quote?) South:
      In all our undertakings God will be either our friend or our enemy; for Providence never stands neuter.
  2. (grammar) Having a form belonging more especially to words which are not appellations of males or females; expressing or designating that which is of neither sex.
    a neuter noun; the neuter definite article; a neuter termination; the neuter gender
  3. (grammar) Intransitive
    a neuter verb
  4. (biology) Having no generative organs, or imperfectly developed ones; sexless.

[edit] Translations

archaic: neither the one thing nor the other
grammar: having a form which is not masculine nor feminine
grammar: intransitive
having no generative organs, or imperfectly developed ones
The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables, removing any numbers. Numbers do not necessarily match those in definitions. See instructions at Help:How to check translations.
Translations to be checked

[edit] Noun

neuter (plural neuters)

  1. (grammar) The neuter gender.
  2. (grammar) A noun of the neuter gender; any one of those words which have the terminations usually found in neuter words.
  3. (biology) An organism, either vegetable or animal, which at its maturity has no generative organs, or but imperfectly developed ones, as a plant without stamens or pistils, as the garden Hydrangea; especially, one of the imperfectly developed females of certain social insects, as of the ant and the common honeybee, which perform the labors of the community, and are called workers.
  4. A person who takes no part in a contest; someone remaining neutral.
    • 1621, Robert Burton, The Anatomy of Melancholy, I.2.4.iv:
      Friends, neuters, enemies, all are as one, to make a fool a madman is their sport [...].
  5. (grammar) An intransitive verb or state-of-being verb.
    • 1820, M. Santagnello, A Dictionary of the Peculiarities of the Italian Language, G. and W. B. Whittaker, page 185:
      Make one do, or act (to), fare fare, fare agire, with an accusative when the verb is a neuter, and with a dative when otherwise.
    • 1847, Brian Houghton Hodgson, Essay the First; On the Kocch, Bódo and Dhimál Tribes, in Three Parts, J. Thomas, page 119:
      Compound verbs other than those already spoken of whereby neuters are made active, are very rare, as I have already hinted under the head of nouns.
    • 1971, Harry Hoijer, “Athapaskan Morphology”, in Jesse O. Sawyer (editor), Studies in American Indian Languages, University of California Press (1973), ISBN 978-0-520-02525-7, page 130:
      In all the Apachean languages, verbs are divided into two major categories, neuters and actives, each of which may be further divided into intransitives, transitives, and passives.

[edit] Quotations

[edit] Translations

person who takes no part in a contest
grammar: noun of the neuter gender
grammar: intransitive verb
biology: organism which at its maturity has no generative organs
The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables, removing any numbers. Numbers do not necessarily match those in definitions. See instructions at Help:How to check translations.
Translations to be checked

[edit] Verb

neuter (third-person singular simple present neuters, present participle neutering, simple past and past participle neutered)

  1. To remove sex organs from an animal to prevent it from having offspring; to castrate or spay, particularly as applied to domestic animals.

[edit] Synonyms

[edit] Translations

to remove sex organs from an animal

[edit] Anagrams

[edit] Latin

[edit] Etymology

From ne (“not”) + uter (“either”).

[edit] Pronunciation

[edit] Adjective

neuter m. (feminine neutra, neuter neutrum); first/second declension

  1. neuter, neither

[edit] Inflection

Mixed declensions (1, 2, & 3). Irregular in that the singular genitive ends in -īus and the singular dative in -ī.

Number Singular Plural
Case \ Gender M. F. N. MM. FF. NN.
nominative neuter neutra neutrum neutrī neutrae neutra
genitive neutrīus neutrīus neutrīus neutrōrum neutrārum neutrōrum
dative neutrī neutrī neutrī neutrīs neutrīs neutrīs
accusative neutrum neutram neutrum neutrōs neutrās neutra
ablative neutrō neutrā neutrō neutrīs neutrīs neutrīs
vocative neuter neutra neutrum neutrī neutrae neutra
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